Search Q&A
Tenancy Rules , please help
Hi ,
I had to break my tenancy contract in the second year of my stay in Belgium
since i was forced to leave Belgium due to my work commitments.
It was a 3 year contract , unfurnished house.
The tenancy contract which i signed says i need to pay up 3 months rent anytime i break contract i.e even if i break in the first,second or third year i still need to pay 3 months rent ....
What does the Belgian law say w.r.t this ? As far as i know i need to pay 2 months rent since i broke contract in second year . The expert who did final house inspection says i need to pay 2 months rent, but the owner is demanding 3 months rent and has threatened to go to court if i do not pay up. She is also threatening that as per Belgian law i need to pay up for all the months for which a new tenant has not joined the apartment. Is this true ?
If i appeal in court will i have a strong case w.r.t above ?
Yes, it's true. It's a fixed 3-year contract. Unless there is an explicit clause in it allowing it to be broken, you have to pay until the end of the 3 years.
It sounds like you do have a clause, which is 3 month's penalty, however given that you have not mentioned the notice period, you may be confusing that with 3 months advance notice.
I'd book an hour with a lawyer and get them to explain the detail of the contract and whet your options are.
3 year fixed contracts stink.
" As far as i know i need to pay 2 months rent since i broke contract in second year"
This is true for a nine-year contract, not a three-year contract. Up to three years a contract is considered to be a short-term contract and as J said, it's actually the worst option for the tenant. In principle a short-term contract cannot be broken for ANY reason neither by the tenant nor the landlord.
So even if you left during your second year, you would be liable to pay rent until the end of the three-year period. From what you say it seems you may indeed be lucky and there is a specific clause in your contract, allowing you to break it by paying a penalty of three months rent.
You could go to court, but given that in principle you could even be liable for rent for the entire three-year period, it is unlikely that the judge would rule in your favour. A penalty of three months would be considered quite reasonable in the circumstances.
The very first thing you should do is to find out whether or not your lease has been registered by the owner. If the lease has not been registered it has no validity and your problem has disappeared. The office for this is at Rue de la Regence 54, 1000, Bruxelles. I can't be sure of their telephone number but I believe it is 02 510-9550.
